How does blind ambition impact political behavior?
How does superstition affect human behavior?
How can appearances be different from reality? What influences our perceptions?
Please see your class page for the scene performance information.
Resources: Open Source Shakespeare (the text of the play and much more!) Note: Use "Open Source Shakespeare" for the Word Journal project.
While reading "The Scottish Play" it is highly recommended that you listen along with the production below. Hearing proper pronunciation and inflection as you read will allow you to better comprehend the work. It's also just plain fun!
Macbeth Inquiry Questions
Why has Macbeth decided to kill Dunchan by the end of Act 1?
Does Macbeth willfully choose evil over good?
Why does Macbeth want to be king?
Why does Lady Macbeth want Macbeth to be king?
Is Macbeth’s fall a result of fate or free will?
What role do the Weird Sisters play in Macbeth’s murder of Duncan?
Words that to focus on in Acts 2 and 3: blood, hand, night, and sleep.
Purpose: To identify how the meaning of a specific word is shaped by the situation in which it is used and the character who uses it. By concentrating on how the denotations and connotations of the words are related to the people who say them, you will come to conclusions about characters and ides in Macbeth based on key words and their contexts.
Starting at the beginning of the act you are assigned, find the word every time it appears. Use the “Text Search” application in Open Source Shakespeare . Each time you find the word, make an entry in your word journal.
Guidelines for Each Entry
Quotation, Speaker, and Citation
1. Write out the passage that contains your word and give act, scene, and line numbers. Record enough of the passage to make its meaning clear. Identify the speaker.
Paraphrase
2. Clarify the meaning of the passage by putting it into your own words - paraphrasing.
Clarification
3. Briefly explain (‘clarification’) what is happening in the play at the time the words in this passage are spoken.
Conclusions
4. Draw conclusions about how the word is used. For example, compare the passage to one you recorded earlier by explaining how the meaning of your word is affected by the character who uses it and the situation in which it is used.
Helpful questions when attempting to draw conclusions:
Does one character use the word most frequently? If so, why?
Does the word’s meaning change as different characters use it?
What is happening in the play at the time the word is spoken?
Is there any connection between these events and others that precede them?
What emotions does the speaker feel as he/she uses the word? Why does he/she feel as he/she does?
Final Conclusions
5. At the end of your act, use the journal to draw more conclusions (general conclusions): What character uses the word most often? How does the denotation and connotation of the word change from character to character? Is there an unusual use of the word? How does this word affect the act you studied?
Create your "Word Journal" in a Pages document. You will submit it to Turnitin.com.
You must have a minimum of TEN entries in your journal
Each entry must include Quotation, Speaker, and Citation; Paraphrase; Clarification; and Conclusions; See the example.
If you have a word that appears multiple times in one sentence, you may consider the multiple uses in one journal entry, or, if the word appears to be used differently within the sentence, you may write several journal entries on the multiple uses of the word in one sentence.
Include a "final conclusions" section at the end of your journal.
Macbeth Character Committees
Duncan
Macbeth
Banquo AND Malcolm and Donalbain
Macduff
Fleance
Lady Macbeth
Three Witches
Porter
Lennox and Ross
Directions:
from the first two acts, collect lines said by or about your assigned character that reveal something about his/her/its appearance or personality
quote the line(s) and provide in insight
exact citation of lines is important
you need at lease TWO entries per person
if you have more than one character, deal with each character separately
be brief
indicate who made the contribution
Example entry: Character: Macbeth Line(s): If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir. Citation: (1.3.145-146) Insight: This passage shows Macbeth to be ambitious, but also cautious. He hopes to become king without the necessity of doing anything as is indicated when he says, "Without my stir." Contributor: Mr. Stephens
Please see your class page for the scene performance information.
Resources:
Open Source Shakespeare (the text of the play and much more!)
Note: Use "Open Source Shakespeare" for the Word Journal project.
While reading "The Scottish Play" it is highly recommended that you listen along with the production below. Hearing proper pronunciation and inflection as you read will allow you to better comprehend the work. It's also just plain fun!
Online audiobook of 'The Scottish Play' (the MP3 format works best)
Concordance of Shakespeare's Works
Essential knowledge and literary terms to understand Shakespeare
Macbeth Paper and Presentation Project
Macbeth Inquiry Questions
Why has Macbeth decided to kill Dunchan by the end of Act 1?
Does Macbeth willfully choose evil over good?
Why does Macbeth want to be king?
Why does Lady Macbeth want Macbeth to be king?
Is Macbeth’s fall a result of fate or free will?
What role do the Weird Sisters play in Macbeth’s murder of Duncan?
Macbeth Word Journals
Grading Sheet: Macbeth Word Journal Grading Sheet.pdf
Tracing a Word in Macbeth: Word Journals
Words that to focus on in Acts 2 and 3: blood, hand, night, and sleep.
Purpose: To identify how the meaning of a specific word is shaped by the situation in which it is used and the character who uses it. By concentrating on how the denotations and connotations of the words are related to the people who say them, you will come to conclusions about characters and ides in Macbeth based on key words and their contexts.
Starting at the beginning of the act you are assigned, find the word every time it appears. Use the “Text Search” application in Open Source Shakespeare . Each time you find the word, make an entry in your word journal.
Guidelines for Each Entry
Quotation, Speaker, and Citation
1. Write out the passage that contains your word and give act, scene, and line numbers. Record enough of the passage to make its meaning clear. Identify the speaker.
Paraphrase
2. Clarify the meaning of the passage by putting it into your own words - paraphrasing.
Clarification
3. Briefly explain (‘clarification’) what is happening in the play at the time the words in this passage are spoken.
Conclusions
4. Draw conclusions about how the word is used. For example, compare the passage to one you recorded earlier by explaining how the meaning of your word is affected by the character who uses it and the situation in which it is used.
Helpful questions when attempting to draw conclusions:
Final Conclusions
5. At the end of your act, use the journal to draw more conclusions (general conclusions): What character uses the word most often? How does the denotation and connotation of the word change from character to character? Is there an unusual use of the word? How does this word affect the act you studied?
Example Word Journal for "blood" in the first part of Act 1
Further Directions and Requirements:
Macbeth Character Committees
Duncan
Macbeth
Banquo AND Malcolm and Donalbain
Macduff
Fleance
Lady Macbeth
Three Witches
Porter
Lennox and Ross
Directions:
Example entry:
Character: Macbeth
Line(s): If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir.
Citation: (1.3.145-146)
Insight: This passage shows Macbeth to be ambitious, but also cautious. He hopes to become king without the necessity of doing anything as is indicated when he says, "Without my stir."
Contributor: Mr. Stephens